Dogwood Health Trust Matching Grant Addresses Affordable Housing

HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C.--More money is now available to address affordable housing in our western counties. A Dogwood Health Trust matching grant enables Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Clay, and Graham counties to leverage millions for affordable housing.

The home grant is a HUD program and requires a 25 percent match. The Southwestern Commission administers the grant and was able to leverage nearly two million from the American Rescue Plan.

The program ensures more than half a million dollars a year to the region to increase the availability of affordable housing.

Haywood leaders say the funding is badly needed with the pandemic increasing home turnover and prices.

"It's pricing a lot of people out of the housing market and unfortunately wages have not kept up with the cost of housing. So, this will help address some of those issues,” says Haywood County Program Administrator David Francis.

Providing affordable workforce housing remains a critical issue in Haywood County.

Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation based in Asheville committed to the health and well-being of all communities in Western North Carolina.